Close to Home

It's been awhile since I've made a post like this.  Band number twenty-six of Siri's "Bands to Listen to" list: Close to Home.  I heard about these Cincinnati guys from the promotion of We Came As Romans - they toured together during Scream It Like You Mean It.  I trust the taste of the We Came As Romans guys, so I decided to add Close to Home to my list.  Let's see what we got.

Two of the three songs I listened to had a different sound from their most recent song, "Backstabbers Need Not Apply," and I honestly think they will be in better shape if they stick to "Backstabbers" sound.  The sound is much heavier and they keep the rocking momentum going, and it's easy for them to rock your ears with the up-tempo bass drum.  The latest album that they have on iTunes is Momentum, which has been out since July 31st 2012, and if the sound resembles more of "Backstabbers," then it should rock.

One of the things I really like about Close to Home is the vocal work.  I enjoy the somewhat raspy clean vocals which add a rugged aspect to their sound.  In the earlier songs, the unclean vocals aren't as prevalent, so to me the music loses its heaviness and the clean vocals seem more relaxed, which isn't as engaging as I'd like.

The music overall is listening goodness, but I'm not sure if I can picture them on stage, which is a big factor to me since I love going to live shows, except for the breakdown parts because those are the easiest to envision.  Right now they have no tours or shows planned, so we shall wait until they come back around!